Council Alters Stadium Lineup : Tuttle Returns to Committee, but City Manager Given Clout

The City Council reinstated Councilman Gary Tuttle to a city committee negotiating construction of a minor league baseball stadium Monday evening, but then shifted the responsibility to cut a deal with a developer to the city manager.

The council voted 4-2 to put Tuttle, the committee’s loudest critic of a developer’s proposal, back on the negotiating committee after dozens of citizens called officials to protest his removal last week.

“I strongly urge that you do not snub your nose at the citizens of this city,” Councilman Jim Friedman said before the vote.

But even as the Tuttle decision was reversed, the council simultaneously empowered City Manager Donna Landeros to act as the city’s point person in all negotiations with developer John Hofer.

Asked if she was willing take on the extra responsibility, Landeros said: “I think it’s time to bring this issue to a point where the council can then decide definitively whether to do it or not.”

Friedman and another Tuttle supporter, Councilman Steve Bennett, eventually opposed the motion because it took negotiating power away from the committee.

Monday’s vote is the latest development in Ventura’s ongoing debate on how much the city should spend to build a stadium to lure a Class A minor league baseball team to town. Or whether it should build a ballpark at all.

In the coming weeks, the City Council will decide if the city is willing to spend $18.7 million to erect a 5,000-seat minor league stadium on the celery fields behind the Ventura Auto Mall south of the Ventura Freeway.

In an eight-hour meeting last week, council members voted 4 to 3 to continue negotiations with developer John Hofer for another 30 days. They also voted 4 to 3 to remove Tuttle from the bargaining team, provoking a public outcry.

But by midweek Councilman Jim Monahan, who voted to remove Tuttle last week, said his exclusion was wrong and began a push to reinstate him.

Under Hofer’s proposal, the city would spend $18.7 million to build the stadium and install street lighting and road improvements.

In return, Hofer would donate 20 acres of land to the city, estimated to be worth between $2 million and $5 million, and pay the city $300,000 a year for five years to lease it, with rent increasing to $330,000 a year for the following 15 years. Hofer would also cover an estimated $600,000 in annual maintenance fees.

The ballpark would cost the city an estimated $700,000 a year. Proponents argue the stadium will put Ventura on the map, generate income and provide the city with wholesome family entertainment.

The California League, too, says Ventura County is ripe for a team because it has the perfect profile for minor-league baseball to be successful.

Opponents argue that the price tag is far too hefty for a city budget so tight officials must skimp on basic services. And they ask why the city, and not the developer, should be paying for the stadium, as is the case with a rival project proposed for Camarillo.

They fear the ballpark could channel money away from other projects such as bike paths and libraries. Some have also voiced fears that dipping into city reserves to pay for the stadium could drive up water or sewer charges.

The majority of council members say the $18.7-million price is too high but think that continued negotiations could bring the price down to an affordable level.